


The Night They Left

by Radioactivehelena



Series: Sander Bro AU by justisaisfine [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Child Abuse, Child Neglect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-15
Updated: 2018-11-15
Packaged: 2019-08-24 05:29:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16633865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Radioactivehelena/pseuds/Radioactivehelena
Summary: Roman comes home and finds his baby brother beaten and bloodied by their mom.





	The Night They Left

**Author's Note:**

> This work is inspired by the amazing au by justusausfine on tumblr. I highly suggest you check them out before reading this fic!

        Roman held Patton's hand in his as he watched the younger brother wave goodbye to his friends on the bus with a beaming smile. The nine year old's blue eyes were shiny and bright as the yellow van drove away, leaving the three brothers in its wake. Logan, however, looked somber to be back home. His hands were shoved deep in his jean pockets and his head was hung low. Roman couldn't blame him. The only reason he ever returned to their hell of a household was  _ because _ of Logan and Patton. And Virgil of course, the youngest brother who had been stuck at home all day, too young to go to school. 

 

     “Cmon Pat,” Roman muttered, gently leading both of his siblings towards their home. There was a long dirt, driveway leading to the house, and the wind rustled Roman's hair as he trudged along in comfortable silence and the familiar content of his brothers. The trees that marked the path up to the house were starting bloom with vivid green leafs, unkempt and overgrowing into the road. It was a stark reminder that while on the outside everything might appear to look okay, on the inside it was corrupted and bitter and evil. 

 

      Gravel crunched under Roman's feet. A leaves fell from its branch. Logan stared at the clouds above. A squired darted across the path. Patton pushed up his glasses with clumsy fingers. A distant wail and a crash broke through the gentle peace. 

 

     Roman was alert in an instant. He had just enough wits to snap “stay here,” at Logan and Patton before he was sprinting up the driveway and towards his house. His feet wouldn't carry him fast enough, his breath wouldn't come quick enough, everything felt slowed down as Roman thought about his poor baby brother stuck at home all day with their cruel parents. The eldest brother threw the door open, the screams now piercing his ears. His nerves were on edge as he followed his baby brothers cries right into the kitchen. The sight beheld was gut wrenching and Roman would have thrown up if he hadn't already seen his fair share of bruises and cuts. 

 

     Virgil was cowering against the cabinets, his tiny arms up to protect his face. There was glass all around him, piles of it, enough to make Roman  _ woozy _ with fear for poor Virgil. But worst of all Virgil was  _ bleeding.  _ His soft skin had been cut by the glass shards, his hands and knees gushing blood. The child's shirt was cut and torn where jagged pieces of plate had been broken over his head and wounded his chest. Thick, wet tears were streaming down Virgil's face and he was shaking uncontrollably. Little hiccups and sobs racked his entire body as he tensed and waited for the next round of abuse. Luckily, it never came. 

 

      Without a care in the world for his own safety, Roman stormed up to his mother, intent on keeping his brothers out of harm's way. He could hear the blood rushing in his ears and feel his pulse in his wrist. The shorter, gangly, old women had a plate held over her head, ready to aim. She was obviously drunk and incredibly unsteady on her feet. 

 

        Roman rushed over to her, ignoring the  _ crunch _ of glass under his feet, and grabbed her arm in a death grip. 

 

     “STOP IT!” He yelled, the panic evident in his voice. She simply shriek, a mangled, high pitched sound, and went to go slap Roman with her free hand, but stopped. No, she’d never hit her favorite son. 

 

     “LET GO!” She said again, sounding very much so like a wounded animal. “LET ME GO!” Fueled by anger and the need to protect, Roman used his other hand to yank the plate away from her, ignore her horrific cries as if she herself had been hit. 

 

    “He’s a fucking child!” Roman roared, towering over her shaking form. However Roman wouldn't be fooled by her ‘innocent act’, and continued to scream. “What on earth made you think that was okay?!” 

 

    “Fuck you,” The women mumbled as she stumbled backwards, at a loss now that her ammunition was missing. However, she took no time finding her way around Roman and stumbling towards the door.  She shoved Patton and Logan on the way, both of whom had just slipped in the house, eyes wide with fear and confusion. 

 

    For one horrifying moment Roman stood there, looking at the glass and plates and oh god the  _ blood _ . He couldn't breath, all he could think about was the way he yelled at his mom, the way he swore at her and grabbed her and  _ threatened _ her. The way he was turning into  _ them.  _

 

__ But then a soft whimper broke Roman from his stupor and he turned to his little brother, heart clenching painfully. The poor boy was still shaking, trembling like flame blowing in the wind. Other than that, he just sat there, staring up at Roman with wide, unseeing, grey eyes. His bleeding arms were wrapped around his shaking frame, the smallest amount of comfort Virgil allowed himself as he waited for more pain to come. 

 

     Roman took a step forward, ready to console the child, only for him to violently flinch away. It hurt, it hurt more than he expected. Roman was uncomfortably use to his brothers flinching from touch, but seeing poor Virgil bleeding and sobbing tugged at his heart strings painfully. 

 

     “What's going on?” Roman heard Patton ask as he turned the corner, fear evident in his voice. Roman momentarily ignored him in favor of leaning down in front of Virgil and making himself appear as small as possible. The youngest Sanders whimpered and backed into the cabinets as much as he could, arms still firmly wrapped around himself. 

 

    “Woah,” Logan whispered as he stepped inside, gently pushing Patton behind him and away from the horrifying scene. “Roman be-be careful.” 

 

    “Don't worry Lo,” Roman replied, his voice soft, focusing on the task at hand. Virgil was flinching at everyone sound, every movement and Roman had half a mind to ask his brothers to leave, but he was too scared to be on his own. His hands shook as he carefully scooped Virgil into his embrace and held the five year old against his chest. 

 

      “It's alright now, I've got you.” Roman replied with a gentle, practiced voice, shielding the child's face from the mess that was the kitchen. “C'mon, let's go upstairs.” Virgil was still whimpering, not responding to any of them. Something caught in Roman's throat as he trudged up the stairs, watching as his baby brother whimpered at each step. 

 

    “Let's go,” Logan muttered, grabbing Patton’s hand gently, following Roman up the stairs. He could hear his own heart beating uncomfortably fast in his chest. His head felt as heavy as led and Logan had to clear his throat before he did something stupid like cry or something. Roman already had enough on his plate, and then there was Patton, and poor, poor, Virgil. 

 

    No one said a word as Roman sat on the rim of the bathtub and carefully placed band-aids on Virgil's bleeding cuts, gently cleaning the wounds and wrapping up his tiny hands with bandages as best as he can. It's an agonizingly tedious task that as Virgil sobbed quietly. Half way through Patton came up to hold his baby brothers wrapped up hand while Roman contained to work. 

 

     When Roman was almost done he looked at the toddler in his lap, who hadn't stopped crying since they’d gotten home. There was a big beige band-aid on his forehead and his cheeks were red with salty tears. Turning, Roman saw Patton, the second youngest, who was silently staring at the bathroom floor. He was leaning against Roman's knee, seeking comfort but too afraid to ask as he held Virgil's tiny hand in his own. Then there was Logan, who was standing by the door, his arms protectively crossed over his chest. Roman met his eyes. They were dazed and hurt and  _ so _ tired. Dark circle’s rimed his glasses. Roman shook his head. Enough was enough. 

 

      “Get our bags,” he said “Start packing. We need to leave.”

 

“What?” Logan asked, pushing himself off the door of the bathroom to stand tall. 

 

“Just the bare necessities. Only what we need.” 

 

“Roman, I don’t understand.” Logan said, shaking his head, dropping his hands in shock. “We can’t just leave-”

 

    “Logan, we have to! She  _ attacked _ Virgil. Look at him.” The child’s trembling had slowed down since they had found him, but big, wet, tears were still streaming down his face. Roman gently wiped them away careful of the kids bruises. Then he grabbed the rest of the bandages to patch up his feet. 

 

    “We have nowhere to go!” Logan said, voice pitched towards hysteria. He fought to keep himself under control, tapping his fingers against his palms, desperately looking at his brothers. He felt bad for speaking out of turn and his tongue felt like led in his mouth but living on the streets with just a five year old! And not to mention Patton. They had four mouths to feed and legally, none of them could keep a job! They were all still in school! Sure, life was torture here, Logans upper arm stung just thinking about the recent abuse he had succumbed to, but at least here they had a bed and food and  _ water _ ! Without those things they would die! Couldn't Roman see?!

 

    “We’ll find a place, there's a shelter near the train station.” The eldest brother said, pulling Virgil closer as his eyes started to shutter close. Exhaustion was finally taking hold of the tiny boy and he leaned against Roman's shoulder. 

 

    “That's on the other side of town!” Logan cried, aghast. He wanted to leave just as badly as the rest of them, he truly did, but if they left so much would be unknown. At least at home Logan had come to expect the mistreatments and the cold shoulders and the pain. 

 

    “The farther away the better.” Roman replied, meeting Logans eyes. Virgil whimpered, sensing the tension in the room, and hung his head. Logans throat felt dry. He knew that there was no convincing Roman otherwise but he had to make him see-he had to-what else were they going to do?!

 

    “I-I wanna leave too,” Patton suddenly spoke up. “I can help pack.” He had been quite during most of the argument, but one look at Virgil hardened his resolve. No one loved him here. No one loved Logan or Virgil and Patton had to convince Roman to leave before he did something like change his mind and then they were all stuck here. He wobbled to his feet and stumbled towards his room, not even giving Logan a chance to say no. 

 

     Logan shook his head, staring straight at his older brother. They were really doing this then “I hope you know what you're doing.” He sighed. 

 

“Nope, ‘ve got not a clue.” Roman replied, bouncing Virgil on his lap as he started to clean his next foot with an anti-cepti wipe. 

 

“Good thing you've got me then huh?” Logan asked with butterflies swarming in his stomach, before slipping from the room to go help Patton. 

 

      Once Virgil had been all wrapped up, Roman scooped him up and went over to the medicine cabinet. He grabbed all that he could-pain meds, the antibiotics from when he once had strep throat, the tums-anything and everything would do. 

 

    “Here,” he said after he had popped into the room he and Logan shared, handing the bottles to his younger brother who was shoving their clothes into the largest suitcase he could find. “And don't forget stuff like sweaters and winter hats.”

“Already on it.” Logan huffed, running a hand through his hair. “Could you-could you check on Patton?”

 

     “Yeah,” Roman nodded, running a finger over Virgil's soft cheek. The child whimpered, but leaned into the touch tender, unsure of himself. The eldest brother went to the room Patton and Virgil shared, which was just next door, and found the latter shoving a mix of toys and apparel into a bag. 

 

     Roman frowned and gently set Virgil on his bed. “No-Pat-we can't take any toys.” He sighed and pulled out the two sets of board games he had packed. Roman's gut clenched at the stuff dog shoved behind a pile of socks. It use to be his, and then Logans when he deemed himself too old to playing with toys. Now it was Patton's. The nine year old could often be seen cuddling with it after a particularly bad day, when his dad shoved him from the room or his mother had pushed away his hugs and snuggles. Roman decided not to say anything about that one stuffed animal, and turned towards his younger brother. 

 

“Grab some extra blankets okay? And make sure you pack all the clothes that are in your drawers.” Patton nodded and scurried off to do as he was told. 

 

    Roman picked Virgil back up into his loving embrace and headed towards his parents room. It stank of cigarette smoke and despair. It was as if the whole room was shielded in a cloud of dark, foggy memories. He couldn't help but wrinkle his nose and Virgil squirmed in his grasp. “Shhhh, I've got you.” Roman muttered soothingly, but it did nothing to ease the child's tensions as Roman pushed open the door and headed towards the sock drawer. 

 

      His heart was beating uncontrollably fast in his chest. Roman knew at any second his mom or dad could come home and the whole plan would be ruined. Everything he cared about-Logan, Patton, Virgil-would be at risk for even more pain. 

      But No, Roman wouldn't let that happen. The screaming, the manipulation, the cigarette burns and shoves and slaps to the face. They’d all endured so much,  _ too _ much. Roman wouldn't let anything ever hurt his baby brothers again. 

 

     Tightening his grip on Virgil, he grabbed all the money from the sock drawer, about seven hundred dollars worth, and headed back towards Logan. “Are we ready to go?” He asked, running on pure adrenaline. 

 

     “I-I… I dunno,” Logan admitted, looking down at the suitcase on his bed. It was full of clothes and soap, medication and blankets. “I packed some food too… just some granola bars and raisins and stuff like that…” 

 

      Roman ran his free hand down his face with a sigh. “Thanks. Thanks Logan. I’d be lost without you. Hold Virgil?” 

 

    “Yeah,” Logan muttered, swallowing thickly as he took the child. Roman went over to his own closet and stood on his tiptoes to reach up and grab a small box that was hidden on the top shelf. Inside was about five hundred dollars he had hidden away from odd jobs he’d done around the  neighborhood. Mowing the law, walking someone's dog, that time he helped out at the library for the summer. Normally it was just for emergencies or buying his brothers birthday gifts. But now, it was all he had 

 

    Just then Patton came in, pulling a suitcase almost as big as him. Roman smiled softly at the kid and gently took Virgil from Logan again. “I'm ready!” Patton smiled, as Roman ran his hand through his soft curls. “I packed everything you asked!” 

 

     Roman looked between the three of his brothers, a painful tug lurching at his heart. So much of his pitiful life had been spent in this house, in this very  _ room _ . He remembered when Logan had first been born and his parents had started acting cruel. Roman had been young then, he hadn't understood why his mother refused to hold the crying baby or why his dad would shake  _ it  _ until  _ it  _ shut up. All Roman could understand then was the protective urge that overtook him to protect the small bundle of curiosity that was Logan. 

 

     Then Patton had been born and Roman had hoped it would get better. He had hoped his mom would love this baby like she loved him. He had hoped she would kiss the baby and hug the baby like she did to him after he got a cut or an A on a test. He just wanted things to be normal, like what he’d heard about from the friends in his class. It wasn't of course, and he’d often come home from school to find Patton sobbing and desperate for attention. Roman made sure to spend all his free time with the poor child, cuddling him and holding him as he did his homework, trying to ignore the arguments in the next room. 

 

     By the time his mom was pregnant with Virgil, Roman swore he wouldn't let anything happen to this next child. He wouldn't let the kid face the same abuse Logan did, or endure the same neglect Patton did. He would make sure this child was taken care of. 

 

    As Roman looked around the room, and eventually at the little Virgil cradled in his arms, he realized how much he had truly failed his brothers. He wasn't able to protect them. But it was alright now. At least they had each other. At least they wouldn't be stuck under the roof of two evil creatures hell bent on making their lives torture. At least they had each other. 

 

      “Okay,” Roman sighed. “Let's go.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Again this work in inspired by the au by justusausfine on tumblr. Please check it out it's amazing.
> 
> Thank you SO much for reading!
> 
> My tumblr - radioactivehelena


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